


Papyrus is (Maybe) A Manlier Skeleton than Sans

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Compare and Contrast, Gen, Nonfiction, Skeletons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2020-09-24 13:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20359468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Discusses whether Papyrus is biologically "manlier" (more masculine) than Sans.





	Papyrus is (Maybe) A Manlier Skeleton than Sans

In some ways, Papyrus’s skull and body are, biologically speaking, manlier (more masculine) than Sans’. However, it’s hard to tell just how much more masculine his appearance is: the sprites are simple and stylized, and some details are ambiguous.

–

One should note that Papyrus is not being evaluated on pure manliness, but, rather, in comparison to Sans. Thus, it’s possible he’s not that manly, objectively speaking, but just manly in relation to Sans.

—-

**Jaw/Chin**

One masculine trait is a large, broad, square lower jaw (mandible) and chin, as well-illustrated by the Lantern Jaw of Justice [trope](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki.php%2FMain%2FLanternJawOfJustice&t=YTYxYTNiYTM5YjM0MzZlMDJmYTc2MjA1NDQ3YjM4ZTBjNGNmMjRhZCxLQUt2VTRJZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180806697456%2Fpapyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans&m=1). Some fan art depicts Papyrus with a large mandible and chin, others with a small chin[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fn:1), but it’s ambiguous within the sprites themselves. A sprite with a frontal view at a useful resolution would help for this, but, alas, such a sprite does not exist.[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fn:2) Indeed, the face of Papyrus’ battle sprite is tilted slightly to the right, assuming his face itself isn’t asymmetrical like a flounder’s.

Based on the best extrapolation available (e.g., artistic intuition) Papyrus’s jaw isn’t especially big (in width or height) though it is pretty broad and square, and so masculine.

* * *

**Eyes**

Small (technically [narrow](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2Ffull%2F10.1111%2Fjeb.12958&t=YTM1MjE0YjBhZjJiN2E1ZTJiM2I3NjhjNmZhYjY4Yzg5YjM3NzljNCxLQUt2VTRJZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180806697456%2Fpapyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans&m=1)) eyes are not, in themselves, a masculine trait. Rather, it’s a byproduct of a hormonally-determined trait of heavy brow ridges, which makes the eyes look a little smaller. (Conversely, big eyes are feminine, as well as neotenous, or basically “cutesy”, from having _[small](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.663.4391%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&t=YTU2NDU5Yjc3NDk1OWZmNjJmZWY3ZTY4ZGMyNDMyZDY1ODgyMjVhZixLQUt2VTRJZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180806697456%2Fpapyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans&m=1)_ brows)

In Papyrus’s sprite, it’s unclear whether he has brow ridges, and most fan artists don’t depict him with significant ones, if any. Relative to Sans, Papyrus’s eyes are small, and Sans’ eye sockets are huge and somewhat more feminine, neoteny-wise. Yet, Papyrus’s vertical eye sockets aren’t really comparable to the narrow ones of models of masculinity; he’s more masculine in this sense purely because he’s not as big-eyed and so “cute”. (That artists often exaggerate Sans’ eye socket size just adds onto this)

* * *

**Cheekbones**

Male zygomatic bones (cheekbones) [are bigger](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fdentalinvestigators.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F10%2Fdifferences-between-male-and-female.html&t=NDMzMWYyZjFmYmZmMjM2Y2MxMzU5NjI2OTRlOTMzNDA1MTg4OTM1NyxLQUt2VTRJZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180806697456%2Fpapyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans&m=1) (more “massive”) than female cheekbones, and as a consequence, cheekbones are more prominent on highly masculine flesh-and-skin male face. It’s unclear whether Papyrus even has zygomatic bones, though: some interpret the slight bulge around his smile as a cartoony cheek-bulge[3](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fn:3), while others[4](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fn:4) interpret it as zygomatic bones.

If Papyrus’s zygomatic bones were bigger than Sans’, he’d be more masculine in that regard, but Sans doesn’t seem to have zygomatic bones at all. This is true of most fan art, too: even in more realistically-styled art Sans’ zygomatic bones are minimal. Thus, on canon sprites alone, it’s impossible to tell if Papyrus is more masculine on the matter of zygomatic bones.

* * *

**Face Size and Shape**

Male skulls and faces are generally [longer](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fdentalinvestigators.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F10%2Fdifferences-between-male-and-female.html&t=NDMzMWYyZjFmYmZmMjM2Y2MxMzU5NjI2OTRlOTMzNDA1MTg4OTM1NyxLQUt2VTRJZA%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180806697456%2Fpapyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans&m=1) (technically, taller) and wider than those of women, and bigger in general. On one hand, Papyrus’s face is six pixels taller than Sans’, but Sans’ face is 20 pixels wider than Papyrus’ face at their respective widest points.

Still, Papyrus’s skull (as well as jaws: see above) are much more square-shaped than Sans’ (though the sprites are ambiguous), which looks more masculine.

* * *

**V-Shaped Body**

A V-shaped body, with a wide chest, broad shoulders and a narrow waist/hip area, is highly masculine and a male physical ideal. (Many superheroes embody this ideal.)

Though his ‘battle body’ exaggerates it, Papyrus’s body is nonetheless impressively V-shaped. Impossibly so, in fact: he’s so V-shaped because of his impossibly small pelvis. Judging by Lord Laharl’s Vassal’s [extrapolation](https://lordlaharlsvassal.tumblr.com/post/152035409798/does-papyrus-have-a-negative-body-image-muscle) of skeletons without clothes, while Sans is fairly broad-shouldered, his waist-to-hip ratio isn’t so impressive as Papyrus’s.

* * *

**Conclusion**

The simple and stylized nature of _Undertale_ sprites, as well as the inherent limitations of applying human body standards to just humanoid skeletons (i.e. they aren’t muscular) makes evaluating Papyrus’s masculinity tricky. Still, Papyrus seems more masculine than Sans, if only because Sans is so neotenous (basically, cute) and therefore more feminine in comparison.

* * *

**For more like this, see:**  
[Papyrus is Probably a Better Boyfriend than Sans Part 3 (Physical Attractiveness)](http://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/176747022689/papyrus-is-probably-a-better-boyfriend-than-sans)

* * *

  1. _The Anomaly_ features an example of a small-chin Papyrus; most art the poster has checked also goes with a small-chinned, canon-like interpretation. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fnref:1)

  2. The Fangamer figure might be a good 3-D reference, but that’s not a sprite. Who knows whether that counts as canon? [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fnref:2)

  3. _[The Anomaly](http://anomalouscomic.tumblr.com/post/168269094840/sans-maybe-isnt-the-best-sensei-but-hes-the)_, to be specific. (which is unusual, because it’s otherwise one of the most realistic styles I’ve seen) [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fnref:3)

  4. Namely, Artisticthingems (Undertalethingems) of[ Unexpected Guests](https://undertalethingems.tumblr.com/tagged/unexpected-guests-comic), the creator of [They Say He Shattered](https://theysayheshattered.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus/), [Zarla](http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus) of Handplates, C-Puff of [Time-Scar](http://time-scar-webcomic.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus), Kodai of [Broken Knife Frisk](https://brokenknifefriskcomic.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus/), thefluffyslipper of[Flowey is Not a Good Life Coach (the comic)](http://thefluffyslipper.tumblr.com/post/161132495358/chapter-1-chapter-2-chapter-3-chapter-4) (especially obvious in later pages), [Insanelyadd](https://insanelyadd.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus/) of the Charakterny comics, and AbsoluteDream of [Over the Void](https://undertale-over-the-void.tumblr.com/tagged/papyrus/). [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180806697456/papyrus-is-maybe-a-manlier-skeleton-than-sans#fnref:4)


End file.
